Senior hockey refers to amateur

Amateur

An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....

 or semi-professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 competition for players too old to play junior ice hockey

Junior ice hockey

Junior hockey is a catch-all term used to describe various levels of ice hockey competition for players generally between 16 and 20 years of age...

. The top senior amateur teams in Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 leagues compete annually for the Allan Cup

Allan Cup

The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. It has been competed for since 1909. The current champion is the Clarenville Caribous hockey club of Newfoundland and Labrador.-History:...

.

Senior hockey leagues are operated independently of professional hockey leagues such as the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 or its farm system leagues such as the American Hockey League

American Hockey League

The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...

 and the ECHL

ECHL

The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...

. Despite the lower level of competition, some former NHLers such as Theoren Fleury

Theoren Fleury

Theoren Wallace "Theo" Fleury is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League , Tappara of Finland's SM-liiga, and the Belfast Giants of the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League...

, Pat Falloon

Pat Falloon

Patrick J. Falloon is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey right winger who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League between 1991 and 2000. He played with the San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He would also play a season...

, Link Gaetz

Link Gaetz

Link Gaetz, aka "the Missing Link", is a former professional ice hockey player known for his battles when he was an up-and-coming enforcer in the National Hockey League and his troubles on and off the ice while in the minor leagues...

 and Éric Fichaud

Eric Fichaud

Éric Fichaud is a professional ice hockey goaltender. He was selected in the first round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 16th overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs...

have played in senior hockey after an NHL career.